Beyond Social Media: The Rise of Community Building in the Web3 Era | đ€ |
and how to supercharge your community growth on Twitter
GM. đ«¶
This is Web3 Espresso â-your weekly cup of everything Web3 designed to educate, entertain, and inform.
If this is your first newsletter, I recommend you read this post where I explain what is Web3 and why itâs changing the internet. âš
Hello â€ïž,
This is Newsletter 8 of Web3 Espresso â.
I published my first newsletter on February 19th, and I am happy to share that the trend of new subscribers is looking đ.
Also, as of this week, this graph also includes subscribers who are outside my "friends and family" circle. đ„ Itâs a small milestone, but one worth celebrating.
I understand that Web3 is still a fairly cryptic topic that for many belongs in the âwhy should I careâ space. I know Iâm early. And if youâre reading this, youâre early too! But remember, being early is good. It means youâre learning about topic that most people donât understand.
Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of Wired Magazine outlines the concept of Finding Your 1,000 True Fans in his essay from 2018. He says:
To be a successful creator you donât need millions. You donât need millions of dollars or millions of customers, millions of clients or millions of fans. To make a living as a craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor you need only thousands of true fans.
There are customers, there are fans and then there are true fans. The true fan is your super fan, that person that will not only go to your concert but buy a VIP ticket and some merchandise to wear during the concert.
The idea behind finding 1,000 True Fans is to prioritise relationship building and to focus on building a small but passionate audience rather than trying to reach a mass market.
This brings me to this weekâs deep dive: the power of communities.
Brands allocate huge budgets to finding their audiences, with the ultimate goal of converting. My belief is that one of the true marketing innovations that Web3 technology brings is not in its audience, but in its ability to create an âincentivised communityâ.
Read on.
Whatâs in store today:
Building Connections, One Conversation at a Time
Audiences vs. Communities: The Evolution of Marketing
Web3 Technology Powering Community Building
5 Proven Steps to Grow your Followers on Twitter
How to Build Connections, One Conversation at a Time
Letâs go! đ„€
Beyond Social Media: The Rise of Community Building in the Web3 Era
Social media has brought about a fundamental shift in the way brands interact with their audiences.
In the era before social media, businesses viewed their customers as a target marketâa group of people who passively consumed their products or services. During this time, brand communication was limited to advertising, Mad Men style. Companies would pay huge amounts of money to push out messages to a large number of people through TV, radio, and print advertisements.
This model worked well in the age of broadcast media but lost some of its relevancy with social media.
Audiences vs. Communities: The Evolution of Marketing
Social media has made it possible for brands and their audiences to have a two-way conversation through their digital channels.
What is an Audience?
An audience is a group of people who consume content, products or services. Audiences are built through social media platforms, content marketing, and paid advertising. The primary goal of audience building is to increase reach, engagement and ultimately conversions. An audience is passive; they consume content, they can but don't necessarily engage or interact with it.
Brands now have an opportunity to build deeper connections with their audience by simply replying. Itâs a DM on Facebook or a comment on Instagram. Audiences now want to be acknowledged and feel heard.
When marketing to an audience, the goal is to reach people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service and to persuade them to make a purchase or take some other desired action.
On the other hand, a community is a group of people who share a common interest, goal, or identity. Members of a community may interact with one another and share resources, ideas, and support.
What is a Community?
A community is a group of people who share common interests, values, and goals. In contrast to an audience, a community is active; members participate in discussions, share knowledge and ideas, and contribute to the collective wisdom of the group.
Although community building is nothing new, up until now community management was limited to interacting on social media. In the age of Web3, the power of communities takes centre stage.
One key aspect of communities in Web3 are DAOs - Decentralised Autonomous Organisations. If you are not familiar with a DAO, you can read my previous post here.
Web3 and unleashing the power of communities
Web3 has brought about a new era of community building, where users are no longer just passive audience members, but active participants in creating and shaping online communities. I call this âincentivised community buildingâ.
Why?
Because in Web3, a community is made up of the people who invest time and/or money in your project, Web3 technology creates an alignment of interest based on financial reward as it allows community members to directly share the financial success of the community or project.
This can be attributed to tokenisation.
Tokenisation is the process of creating digital tokens that represent value or ownership in a particular asset or community.
In the context of communities, tokenisation can be used to incentivise people to participate or contribute by rewarding them with tokens that can be redeemed for various benefits (such as access to exclusive content or products, voting rights, or financial rewards).
From a marketing perspective, tokenisation is a powerful tool for building brand loyalty and engagement. By creating a community based on shared values and interests, and using tokens to incentivise participation and contribution, it creates a stronger sense of belonging and ownership.
The Four Pillars of Web3 Communities
By understanding the differences between audiences and communities, brands can come up with more effective ways to connect with their customers and build long-term loyalty. These are:
Participation
Audiences consume content, while communities actively participate in the creation and curation of content. In Web3 communities like DAOs, members have a say in the direction of the project, and they contribute to the decision-making process.
Relationship Building
Audience building is often transactional; the goal is to convert as many people as possible into customers or followers. In contrast, community building is centred on relationships. Members of a community support each other, collaborate, and build meaningful relationships.
Shared Values
Audiences may be diverse in their interests and values, but communities are built around shared values. This can be monetised through the creation of token. Tokenisation is the process of creating a digital token that represents a particular asset, value, or utility.
Contribution
Audiences may consume content, but communities contribute to its creation. In Web3 communities, members actively contribute to the growth and development of the project. Contributions may include code development, content creation, and community management.
Why Web3 â€ïž Twitter ?
The main social platforms used by Web3 projects to drive awareness and promote themselves are Twitter, Discord and Telegram.
This week I will focus on Twitter.
Twitter and Discord have made it easy for NFT projects to measure the size and activity of their communities. A NFT has value only because it is rare and someone else wants to buy it. A projectâs ability to drive interest from its community on Twitter, Discord, and Telegram is one way to assess whether it is worth buying. I wrote about the process and considerations you should take when buying NFTs here.
For a long time, Twitter was reserved for short, news-type of communication. More recently, Twitter has really helped the evolution and adoption of Web3. It is where most people go to find out what is going on across the Web3 ecosystem. Literally, everyone who is a key player, spectator, etc. in the Web3 space is on Twitter.
Despite this rather large constraint, due to its openness it has always been a great place to connect with influencers and thought leaders regardless of your industry.
5 Proven Steps To Rapidly Grow your Twitter
If like me, you are not very active on Twitter, the journey to creating a community on Twitter may seem long and arduous.
Youâve just posted a tweet on Twitter about your NFT project or your Web3 startup.
You sit. You wait. You watch it get zero engagement.
Why does it seem like everyone on your timeline seems to be blind to your content?
Iâve looked at some of the fastest growing accounts on Twitter to figure out what theyâve been doing to turbo-charge their growth. I will share 5 things they do very well, and I will finish with something that only the best are doing.
These are the five lessons Iâve learned:
Figuring out what to write about is hard.
Twitter was created as a means to share opinions and short pieces of information, fast. This makes writing meaningful content difficult because of the 280 character restriction. It also means that the audience inherently has a short attention span.
The fastest growing accounts on Twitter do so by breaking the Twitter mould. They have found a way to write longer pieces of content.
How?
By writing a thread. A Twitter thread allows you to add as many as 20 additional content blocks to your tweet. The reason these threads often perform so well is simply because they give the opportunity to publish quality content.
Quality trumps quantity.
Always.
Publish quality content that your audience finds helpful, and you will get more reach, more comments, and more likes.
Be human.
The content you publish on Twitter needs to be a little informative, somewhat entertaining, and very insightful. You need to understand your audience very well and what theyâre looking for, and at the same time, you should not be afraid to be yourself.
Admittedly, this can be difficult.
The key point is to understand who youâre talking to and make them feel good. Break the information down. Be generous with your knowledge and insights and remember to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Nobody likes to feel dumb. Resist the urge to show how smart you are.
Become a master storyteller.
Write like Agatha Christie. Learn how to carry your audience and take them with you on a journey. Donât lead with your punchline. If you do, why should they read the rest of the thread? Entice the reader to continue reading by letting them know the best and most powerful point is at the very end of the thread.
Be authentic.
A lot of people in Web3 Twitter chose to be anonymous. The power of being part of a community is building connections. Weâve moved these connections from the bar (remember Meetups) to our computers, but the desire to connect is still with a person, not a pixel. Share your uniqueness. Your quirks. Your face. Be someone.
Follow the experts
Twitter is a great place to get information fast and to connect with thought leaders. You can follow experts and even mention them in your tweets. By mentioning them in your tweet, your tweet will appear in their feed and give you an opportunity to engage with them.
Creating a Conversation-Based Connection
I recently listened to my first Twitter Space conversation, and it was an amazing chance to get to know a really different set of people who at the same time shared the same interest.
What is Twitter Spaces?
Twitter Spaces is a feature available on Twitter that allows users to participate in and host live audio conversations with other users. Think of it as Clubhouse but on Twitter. It offers a more intimate and spontaneous way to connect and engage with each other.
To join a Space, you simply click on the purple icon in the Fleet row at the top of your Twitter app, and you'll be taken to a virtual room where you can listen in on the conversation, or participate by requesting to speak.
Twitter Spaces and Community Building
At its core, Twitter Spaces is all about community building. It gives you the opportunity to have live, unfiltered conversations with other people who share your interests on a social media platform.
If done correctly, this can be a powerful tool to engage your community.
One promotion strategy that Web3 projects frequently use are AMAs (Ask Me Anything) sessions. AMAs per se are not new. Instagram influencers often use their Stories to engage their audience with âAsk Me Anythingâ stickers.
Twitter Spaces has taken this concept to a new level by allowing âone-to-manyâ conversations.
An AMA, short for âask me anything,â is a type of interactive post in which someone answers questions, usually in real time.
AMA meetings are a great way for startup leaders to build trust and foster transparency in their projects. Itâs taken the concept of âword-of-mouthâ and given it a digital experience.
More to come on this topic in the next newsletter!
Thatâs all for this week⊠đ«¶
As I write these last few lines, I am about to grab my bag and head off to the airport - heading to beautiful Morocco for a few days.
If you made it this far, give my post a like on Linkedin :D
If you have any questions - dropâem here!
I'm happy to answer any questions. đ
Please note that I do not recommend or endorse the companies and organisations mentioned in this newsletter. This content is purely informative and not a recommendation. Always be mindful of where you connect your wallet. Always do your own research. đ